The Massachusetts swim and dive teams found success while competing in the 18th annual Terrier Invitational. The Minutemen (0-2) and Minutewomen (0-2) faced off against Northeastern, Boston College, Boston University and Bryant. The men also battled New Jersey Institute of Technology while the Minutewomen met Fairfield.
The Minutemen managed a fourth-place finish with 840 overall points on the weekend. The team events were highlighted by a strong second-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay, with a finals time of 3:01.26. The team consisted of senior Juan Montori, sophomore Alonso Montori, junior Aidan Shepston and senior Sammy Quigg. UMass also snatched a solid fourth-place finish in the 200-yard relay.
“We really look forward to the opportunity,” men’s head coach Sean Clark said. “We’ve been training really hard and it helps to see the success and the hard work pay off. This practice also is valuable in helping us for the A-10 Championships.”
On the women’s side they also excelled during the weekend in team matches and finished third overall with 1040.50 points. They medaled with a third-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle relay to start off the weekend. The team featured sophomore Beren Cakiroglu, senior Bri Williams, senior Anna Kwon and senior Anna Calderon. The Minutemen also finished third in the 400-yard freestyle relay for the weekend.
“They fought hard,” women’s head coach Maiya Otsuka said. “Three-day long event and our first time doing prelims before finals this season. Our day one usually isn’t our best, but I would say it was our strongest this weekend.”
The men dominated the scoreboards with first place finishes in the one-meter and three-meter events. Coming off a record-breaking meet against Boston University, Andrew Bell continued his excellent year at the Invitational. Bell earned gold medals in both the men’s one-meter diving and the men’s three-meter diving. Bell ran away with first place in both events, scoring 383.50 and 385.50 for both events respectively. The next best score in both events was 50 points behind his showings on the weekend. 17-year-old freshman Alex Kriedler finished fourth in the event as well, scoring 269.90 points.
“Andrew [Bell] continues to be motivated and maximize his potential.” Clark said. “To see him succeed after all of the work and training he puts in, it’s great to see. He’s been great this year for us.”
The women also earned a medal in the diving competitions. Freshman Danielle Guerin secured a third-place finish in the three-meter dive with a score of 252.75. Junior Salem Howes finished in the top ten with a seventh-place finish and a score of 220.60.
The Minutewomen were able to medal in both the 100-yard and the 200-yard breaststroke events for the weekend. Lindsay Burbage continued her strong sophomore campaign as she earned silver medals in both. The final results saw her post a 1:03.04 time in the 100-yard breaststroke and a 2:19:19 time for the 200-yard breaststroke. Freshman Maria Grishaeva also earned a bronze medal in the 200-yard breaststroke,
“[Burbage] is hardworking and pushes herself all the time for the breaststroke during practices.” Otsuka said. “She also [earned a personal record] in the 200 individual medley. Her hard work is paying off and she continues to see success.”
The Minutemen and Minutewomen set multiple all-time records in the Terrier Invitational match, Freshman Nate Derby recorded a 200m breaststroke record for UMass with a 2:01.73 time. Grishaeva also etched her name in the record books with a 2:19.16 finish in the 200m breaststroke preliminaries, setting an all-time record for UMass in the event’s preliminary round.
“When Maria came in, I wasn’t sure what to expect from her for the season,” Coach Otsuka said. “But today I saw what I expected from her when I recruited her, as she set freshmen relay records for UMass.”
The Minutewomen and Minutemen will now look ahead to their Dec. 7 matchup against both Rhode Island and La Salle. The matchup will take place in Kingston, Rhode Island.
Irwin Mburu can be reached at [email protected].
